His work involving defective Chrysler minivan lift gate latches resulted in a $262.5 million jury verdict.
Watts tried the first case in the country in other product defect litigations, including cases involving Rezulin, a diabetes drug that caused liver damage, which ultimately was recalled; Sulzer Hip Implants, where oily residue on implants caused the product to fail, and where his punitive damage verdict against the company led to a nationwide settlement of more than $1 billion involving the now-recalled defective implants; the drug Levaquin, where Watts obtained the only Plaintiffs' verdict in the United States.
The indictment alleged that he committed fraud when he signed up more than 40,000 clients along the coast after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
[3] He was charged with "fabricating thousands of clients, including the representation of a dog by the name of Lucy Lu.
"[3][4] Before he was indicted, Watts's law firm reached a settlement with BP for $2.3 billion on behalf of 41,000 seafood industry workers.
However, the jury found guilty several people that Watts hired in Mississippi to gather clients for his litigation against BP.